The term "slot machine tips and tricks" is thrown around quite a lot in the online casino world - but, is there any actual, legitimate advice available for slots players? That's what we're going to explore in our blog today, as our slots experts are here to dispel myths surrounding slot tips to increase your chances of winning at these popular casino games and help you make the most of your gaming experience.

How Often Do Slot Machines Pay Out? No One Knows!

A common query among online slots players is “how often do slot machines payout?” It’s an understandable question because you want to know when exactly you’ll be able to see a return on your wagers.

However, there is no hard and fast answer to this, because slots are totally random – and anyone who tries to tell you that it’s possible to predict when they will pay out isn’t being totally honest.

All About Volatility

The most important indication of how often a slot machine will pay out is its volatility level - but this still won't tell you how to win at slots. This lets you know how frequently a game awards prizes and how generous you can expect those prizes to be:

  • High Volatility: the slot pays out very generous prizes but payouts are awarded less frequently
  • Medium Volatility: the slot awards a decent balance of mid-sized prizes fairly consistently
  • Low Volatility: the slot pays out prizes very frequently but its payouts are lower than average

You’ll notice the difference if you go from playing a highly volatile game like Jammin Jars to a lower variance title like Starburst. You'll land wins a lot more often in Starburst but Jammin Jars' top prize is much more generous - at 20,000x (compared to Starburst's 500x max win).

Play Free Slots to Find Your Sweet Spot

When it comes to playing online slots, you’ll want to ensure that you’re spending money on games that you actually enjoy playing and ones that you believe will leave you feeling satisfied after a session.

That’s why you should always play free slots for fun before you try the real-money version of any game.

At Slots Temple, we have over 10,000 slots to choose from. So, any slot that you can think of wanting to demo, you’ll be able to search for it here and find it.  It’s important that you get a feel for a game before you start playing real money slots.

The Best Slot Machine Strategy – Playing Responsibly, Of Course!

Forget about the Martingale System; pay more attention to your budgeting system. You never want to spend more than you can afford when playing online slots, so we always recommend setting a budget and ensuring that you stick to it.

How to Gamble Responsibly

There are plenty of useful responsible gambling tools that we offer to ensure that you can stick to your budget. Whether you need reminders of how long you’ve been playing or need to take a break from playing, visit the Player Protections tab in My Account to see the options available.

Real-money casinos also offer these tools, along with allowing you to set betting and deposit limits.

Double Check That You’re Eligible for Progressive Jackpots

One of the most important slot tips that even the most seasoned players don’t know about is in regards to progressive jackpots. Not all progressive jackpot slots are made equal and not all of them have automatic eligibility for all players.

Some progressive jackpots, like Relax Gaming’s Dream Drop jackpots, allow all players to potentially win jackpot prizes. However, there are others that require players to wager the maximum (or meet a minimum wager requirement) in order to be eligible for a jackpot.

So, make sure you read up on the game beforehand so you can make sure that you are, indeed able to cash in on the progressive wins.

Progressive jackpots have much, much lower RTPs than your average slot (you can read more about this in our RTP blog). So, there isn’t much point in playing if you’re not looking for a progressive prize – which is why you should heed this slot machine tip.

Are There Any Tricks To Winning on Slot Machines? Sadly, No.

If anyone tells you that they have a list of slot machine tips and tricks that guarantee you winning on games, then you can tell them that they are full of it. Wondering how to win at slots is pointless to ponder, as there is no way to change your outcome. 

Always Random Results

One of the most important slot machine tips that you should always store in your front pocket is that there is no way to guarantee a win while playing slot games.

There are hundreds of articles that will tell you otherwise, citing hot and cold slots or other old wives tales, but these slot machine tips for winning should be taken with a grain of salt.

Only Play For Fun, Not For a Big Win

Always make sure you’re playing slots for fun, rather than looking for a big score. This is the best way to ensure that you’ll walk away from your session still feeling like a winner, even if you haven’t won any real-money prizes.

We know many players are curious about how to win big on slots, but that's really not what you should be aiming to get out of the experience. Only play for fun!

This isn't something that the operators of online casinos can control, either. Even when playing slot online at sites that are considered the best-paying online casinos, you should still only play slots for the entertainment of it all.

What Are The Best Online Slot Machines To Play?

When it comes to selecting a slot to play, you should be more focused on your overall gaming experience rather than how potentially generous a game is.

Interesting Features

You should always play slots with features and mechanics that appeal to your gaming tastes, rather than slots that seem like they are more potentially generous.

High RTP Slots

While you can't predict which slots will pay out and when, you can aim to play games that have more generous winning potential. This is where RTP comes into play.

RTP (or return to player) is a figure that lets you know how much a slot pays out, on average for every £100 wagered on it.

This figure won't tell you if a slot is likely to award wins but it does give you a good idea of how a game compares to others, and it's particularly useful when you're deciding between a couple of slots. For example, if you're looking at a slot with a 95% RTP and one with a 97%, you'll likely want to play the one with the higher return.

Remember, though - RTP is a theoretical figure that is worked out by game developers over thousands of spins. So, it won't always work out down to the letter.

Variable Payout Slots

Many slots nowadays have variable RTPs - which means that the payout percentage can change depending on where you play. In many instances, you'll find that one game might have an RTP of 94% at one casino and 96% at another.

We advise that you always find out what the exact RTP is of a slot at the specific casino you're playing at.

Try Free Slots Tournaments

One slot machine tip that has remained a pretty well-kept secret until now is playing free tournaments. As a UKGC license holder, Slots Temple hosts tournaments with cash prizes available for players in the United Kingdom – and, they are totally free.

Unlike any other slots in the online gaming world (unless you bag a no deposit free spins bonus), you don’t have to spend any money to win a cash prize – and, in some of these tournaments, we offer £500 to the first-place winner!  

Slot Machine Tips FAQs

How do you pick a winning slot machine?

Since slots are completely random, there really is no way to tell when a slot machine will pay out.

How are slots programmed?

Al online slots run on a random number generator, so slot machine odds cannot be manipulated. A series of calculations are run on every spin to result in a completely unpredictable set of symbols. These RNGs are tested often to ensure that all outcomes are totally random.

Is there a trick to winning at slot machines?

Unfortunately, there are no actual tricks to winning at slot machines. All we advise is that you play responsibly and only enjoy slots for fun, rather than with the sole purpose of making a profit.

Are there any slots that are more likely to pay out than others?

By looking at an online slot machine's RNG, you can get an idea of potentially generous a game can be when compared to other games. For example, a slot with a 97% RNG has a higher rate of return than a slot with a 94% payout percentage.